Chuck Versus the Temptation
by RC1701
Summary: Having re-invented themselves as a cybersecurity firm, Team B are in Northern California for a prestigious client. However, they find themselves swept up into more excitement and adventure than they bargained for in their new line of work. A post-canon mission story.


Chuck Versus the Temptation

* * *

**A/N1:** Hope you enjoy, and I'd love to hear your thoughts on the way out.

* * *

"Alright, radio check. Is everyone ready?"

"For the fourth time, yes moron, we're ready."

"I think you'll find it's pronounced 'yes boss', Casey.", Chuck scolded the former Colonel, receiving a grunt of acquiescence through his earpiece. "And I'm only asking again because the bidding's gonna be starting soon"

Team Bartowski, now doing business as cybersecurity firm Carmichael Industries, was in Northern California for Monterey Car Week. It was the was the eighth day of the vehicular festivities, and the second day of the event CI was in town for; RM Sotheby's annual car auction.

The team had been hired by the auctioneers to bolster the event's computer security infrastructure, including the online bidding system and the various electronic defences protecting the impressive catalogue of exotic (and valuable) vehicles up for sale. The auction was being held at the Portola Hotel & Spa and the adjoining Monterey Convention Center. For the first few days before the auction, the Hotel's main lobby, dining area and large ballroom were full of every kind of car. From rare, vintage race cars and limited-edition exotics to old station wagons, pickup trucks and commercial vehicles from the forties and fifties.

The main downstairs space in the Convention Center, the Serra Ballroom, was the site of the auction itself. After prospective buyers had been given a chance to preview all of the cars in the Hotel, they were moved to a nearby secret location - an emptied parking garage a couple of blocks away which was also protected by CI gadgetry and watchful eyes - from which they would be driven to the Convention Center. The cars were then driven into the Ballroom via a loading area at what would normally be the back of the room. The Ballroom had been divided in two; the bidders seated in one half with their backs to the regular stage, and the RM auction stage taking up the other half. The reason for the stage's size was to allow the cars to be driven onto the it, their path a small loop around a large stand in the centre. The stand was emblazoned with the words 'RM Auctions' and contained a TV screen which displayed the current bid and the reserve for whatever car was passing across the block at that time. The auctioneer stood off to the right, opposite where the cars would enter the stage.

Chuck was currently in the Convention Center, sitting amongst the bidders in the Ballroom and looking towards the stage, where proceedings were to begin shortly. The team decided that as CEO, or rather Co-CEO, he should monitor the auction itself by posing as one of the bidders. However, the auctioneers insisted he actually register as a bidder for simplicity's sake and to minimize problems with RM's own physical security arrangements – large, square-headed men wearing tight-fitting suits, flanking every doorway.

"This is Cobra, checking in too. All's good here"

Morgan was at the offsite parking garage, monitoring the electronic defences erected around the still unsold cars which would soon begin their short journey to the auction. Meanwhile, Casey and Sarah were in the Hotel security office, keeping an eye on things using the security cameras (of which there were plenty) throughout the Hotel and Convention Center.

"And this is your wife, also checking in", the feminine voice behind him, which he'd expected to hear through his earpiece, made him jump.

"Gah! Hey! There-there you are", he nervously stated the obvious.

"Here I am", she smiled at him. "Thought I'd come down and keep you company. Casey can handle the security cameras on his own anyway." She sat down in an empty seat beside him. "Anything suspicious?", she inquired, sounding almost hopeful.

"No, nothing. Which I can't decide if I'm pleased or disappointed about."

The first day of the auction had been uneventful, the young company not getting the chance to flex its muscles, not that it really made much difference, since they'd get paid either way. But still, it would be nice to get a chance to prove themselves in a real cybersecurity emergency. Or perhaps it was just that the transition from super-spies to cyber-doormen was more of a slow-down than they'd bargained for.

Chuck was especially concerned about how Sarah felt about the new work they were doing. Although her memories had started coming back to her slowly, most of them in dreams, there was still much she was missing, and she didn't seem as enthusiastic about her own cybersecurity business plan as she had on the phone, before Quinn's fateful intervention. Had they given up just a little too much adventure in the transition? Chuck was starting to wonder if she perhaps wanted to return, at least part-time, to spying.

Chuck was wrenched from his ponderings by the sound of the auctioneer's gavel being smacked several times, signaling the start of the bidding.

"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the second day of the auction", the bespectacled, balding man jovially began. "Thank you all for coming to what I'm sure will be another successful day. Without further ado, we'll begin with Lot 201: A 1932 Ford "Respect Tradition" Custom Pedal Car…"

* * *

"Sold! Lot 240 – The 1964 Shelby 289 Competition Cobra goes to Mr. Moon for $1,320,000"

The gavel being hammered for what felt like the ten millionth time that day shook Chuck awake. The tense theatre of obscenely rich individuals waging bidding wars against each other, for cars they'll probably never actually drive, had worn off quickly the previous day. Even the hand-held gaming console Chuck had snuck in today hadn't been enough to hold off the boredom for long. He looked to his left, where Sarah had been sitting, only to see the seat was empty.

"I'm back with Casey watching the cameras", came her reply over radio, presumably having seen his befuddled expression over the feed. "I'm just gonna take another walk around the hotel, check all the equipment there is working properly."

"It's working fine, there's just nothin' goin' on", grumbled Casey.

"Chuck! Chuck!", Morgan's voice crackled through his earpiece next.

"Yeah, what's up, Morgan?", Chuck replied with a sigh, only half-paying attention.

"Dude, which lot are they on now?"

"Uh, 240 just sold, why?"

"Nice, just in time. You're gonna wanna put your PSP away for the next one."

"What are you?..."

No sooner had he lifted his head in interest at Morgan's words than the auctioneer announced out the next offering. "And now, a real treat for you all: Lot 240A - A 1962 Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder", he took a moment to bask in the reverent silence of the crowd as the car entered stage left before continuing. "This example, Chassis 3119, is one of only fifty-six short wheelbase California Spyders, of which it is one of just thirty-seven covered headlight examples - the most desirable configuration - ever built".

The auctioneer expounded further on the car's quality and provenance, but Chuck wasn't listening. After the oppressively amiable man had said the name of the car, all Chuck could hear was a single, base-heavy lyric: _Oh yeahhhh._

"Neat, huh? Just like the one in Ferris Bueller."

Once again though, the auctioneer spoke before Chuck could respond to Morgan. "We'll start the bidding at...", he paused, once again relishing keeping his audience in suspense. "Six million dollars"

A ripple of murmuring passed over the crowd before several hands rose around Chuck, grasping their numbered paddles.

"I have six million dollars. Do I have six-point-one million?" The same hands, plus several others, went up. The auctioneer pointed to a man several rows in front of Chuck. "And how about six-two? Six-two? I have six-two, six-three? Six three..."

As the numbers continued to climb, Chuck started to battle with himself, though he was swiftly interrupted.

"Don't do it moron", Casey growled into his ear.

"How'd you know I was thinking of...you know what, never mind. Why shouldn't I?", Chuck couldn't help the rise in pitch of his voice. "And once again, it's boss, not moron"

"What are you thinking? You don't care about cars. The current owner - they're his love, his passion"

"Then it's his fault he's selling it", Chuck snarked, trying to keep his voice low so as not to attract attention.

"People who buy these cars, they never drive them, the just look at 'em and rub 'em with diapers"

"And people with so little mechanical sympathy are undeserving of such a fine automobile"

"Have you forgotten how you stalled the Ferrari the CIA gave you for that fake date with Jill?"

"But the Intersect can drive stick"

"Sarah will kill you"

He didn't know what to say to that, until a voice in his head piped up.

_Think of the adventures you could have together._

"I have seven-nine, do I have eight?", the auctioneer broke through Casey and Chuck's tug-of-war.

_Come On! Live a little!_

"Eight million dollars!", Chuck was almost as surprised to hear his voice call out as the other bidders still in the running, who all shot venomous looks in his direction. He lowered his paddle and gulped.

"I have eight, do I hear eight-one?', the auctioneer continued even more enthusiastically, seemingly excited by the added drama of Chuck's joining in.

This time only one person, sat behind Chuck, raised his paddle. Crossing the eight million threshold was apparently too much for many of the others who had held out until now.

"Eight-one, how about eight-two?"

Chuck raised his again.

"Eight-two, eight-three?"

A silver-haired man seated left and three rows in front, who immediately reminded Chuck of Roger Sterling from _Mad Men_, raised his paddle.

"Eight-four?"

Chuck raised his paddle.

"Eight-five?"

The other two men hesitated this time. The auctioneer paused yet again, smiling, and Chuck realised the room had completely fallen silent. "Going once, going-"

"Eight million, five-hundred and fifty-thousand" Roger Sterling's doppelgänger called out.

At that, Chuck couldn't keep the affronted look from his face.

"I have eight point five-five, do I hear eight point five-six?"

Chuck shot his paddle-hand up, perhaps a little more aggressively than was necessary.

"And eight point five-seven?"

Not-Roger Sterling's hand went up again - the third man was throwing in the towel, it seemed. Good.

"Eight million, six-hundred thousand!"

The crowd released a pantomime-like gasp at Chuck's throwing down of the gauntlet, and then all eyes in the room settled on Not-Roger Sterling. After a drawn-out pause which put the auctioneer to shame, he let out a long sigh, and shook his head.

"Going once...going twice..." What was it with these guys and the pauses? "Sold! The 1962 Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder goes to Mr. Charles Carmichael. Congratulations sir!"

As the crowd began to applaud, including some of his less bitter fellow bidders, Chuck sat stock still, stunned.

He'd done it, he'd won. He'd just bought a Ferrari 250 California Spyder for eight point six million dollars.

_Holy crap, he'd just bought a Ferrari 250 California Spyder for eight point six million dollars._

"Congratulations, _boss_"

"Shut up, Casey", Chuck snapped, still trying to come to terms with what'd just done.

"Well, at least you blew the money intentionally this time around. And it's yours to blow rather than the taxpayers'"

Chuck had stopped listening, however. The shock was starting to wear off and he, like everyone else, was becoming more concerned about the fact that no car had followed the Ferrari, which had just exited the stage.

"Uh, Casey, we might have a problem down here", as he spoke, Chuck started to make his way up to the stage where the auctioneer and several other event staff were having a rather tense, whispered conversation.

"Mhm?", Casey, as Sarah had, sounded almost hopeful.

As he stepped up onto stage, Chuck addressed the frantic-looking staffers around the podium. "I'm Mr. Carmichael, of Carmichael Industries - your bosses hired us to help with computer security for the event. Is there something wrong?"

"Well yes, there is", the auctioneer, whose upbeat manner had vanished entirely, replied. "You see-wait, didn't you just buy the Ferrari?", he looked at Chuck curiously.

"Uh, yeah", he glanced away awkwardly for a moment before pressing on. "But that's not important right now. What's going on?"

"Well, the next car hasn't arrived. The whole convoy should be here by now, but the Ferrari was the last car in the wings"

"Morgan, have all the cars left the warehouse?", now speaking through his earpiece as the auction staff continued to look at him strangely.

"Uh yeah, the last one left like fifteen minutes go, they should all be there by now. Why, aren't they? Is there something wrong?", like Sarah & Casey before him, Morgan too sounded more excited than concerned.

"Morgan, are you in the garage attendant's office?", Chuck pressed on.

"Yeah, I've been sat here watching the security cameras the whole time"

"Go back over the external cameras. Casey you do the same for the hotel's exterior feeds. Send anything you find to my phone. Sarah, meet me at the main entrance to the hotel"

"Roger", all three of them chorused.

Chuck looked around for the nearest exit, before his eyes settled on his recent purchase. He just about managed to keep the smile twitching at the corners of his mouth at bay.

"Excuse me, ladies and gentlemen, but if you don't mind, I think I'll be taking delivery straight away", he walked passed the group on stage, took the keys from the befuddled looking demonstration driver and jumped in the car. "We can figure out the paperwork later, okay?", he said looking back.

"Uhhh, sure", the once cheery and commanding auctioneer now looked like he hadn't a clue what was going on.

Now sitting in the car, he looked down at the manual shifter, doing his best to hide the flash from the demo driver still standing alongside.

Now learned in how to drive his new extravagance, he inserted the key and turned it, the V12 engine roaring to life. Knocking it into first with a satisfying click, he stomped on throttle and the car wheel-spun towards the daylight shining through rear stage door, the sound of the auctioneer now reassuring the agitated bidders fading into the distance.

By the time Chuck had made the short trip to the adjacent hotel entrance, Sarah was waiting for him. As she approached the car, she gave him an inquiring look.

"Uh yeah, I'll explain later. Right now, we need to get to Morgan", she nodded and got in the car. Just as she closed the door, Chuck's phone buzzed. "It's a video message from Morgan", Sarah leaned over to watch, and he hit play.

The footage was from an external camera covering the main entrance to the parking garage a couple of blocks away. The camera also had a good panoramic view of the street. The missing cars could be seen turning left onto the street. Turning right was the fastest route to the auction, but it was blocked by construction works.

"There! Look!", Sarah pointed to the very end of the street. Though hard to see on the small screen, the first car in the convoy appeared to be held up by a black van parked across the end of the road. A second later, what Chuck realised was a group of ski-mask wearing men burst out form the van's sliding side door, each running to one of the cars in the convoy. Chuck could clearly see the man who ran to the last car in the convoy, which was nearest to the camera, point a gun at its demo driver, who got out and lay on the ground with his hands on his head. Further down the line the same thing seemed to have happened, as all the show drivers were now lying face down on the side of the road while the masked men took their places. The black van then moved out of the way and the cars began moving again, taking a left down a side-street rather than heading right, towards the auction.

"Holy shit", Chuck breathed, looking over to Sarah.

"Look at the timestamp", she pointed to the screen again. "This was only a few minutes ago, they couldn't've gotten far in this traffic"

"You're right" he pressed his earpiece to contact their colleagues. "Casey, call Monterey PD and tell them several cars due for sale at the RM Monterey auction have been stolen by a group of masked men. There may also be a black panel van with them. Morgan, you get over to the Convention Center and explain what's going on to the organisers"

After both had acknowledged in the affirmative, Chuck put the car into gear again. "Ready?", he asked his companion, looking straight ahead.

"Let's go"

The car screeched away from the curb, accelerating down the road before Chuck took a sharp right turn down the street where the cars had been jacked, then turning left down the side-street where they'd been driven by the assailants. As they made the second turn, Chuck caught a glimpse of the demo drivers, who were no longer lying in the street but rather having an intense discussion on the sidewalk - presumably about what to tell their bosses at the auction.

When they reached the end of the side-street they found themselves looking onto a heavily gridlocked thoroughfare. Chuck's gaze fell to the curb next to the Ferrari, where another car had left tyre-marks. Just before he was about to look away, he felt a familiar buzz in his temple, and the flash took over him.

_Pirelli Cinturato Tyres; Size Code - CA67; Used on - Porsche 356 (1948 - 1965)_

_RM Auctions Lot 253; 1960 Porsche 356B 1600 Roadster_

As he shook his head clear, one of the cars stuck in traffic in front of them moved forward slightly, revealing the tyre-marks came to an unnaturally abrupt stop.

"Sarah, look!", he pointed the marks out to Sarah. "Those marks are from an old Porsche, just like one of the cars that was taken. Look at the way they just come to a stop"

"They must've loaded the cars onto a truck, probably heavy-duty car transporters"

Chuck stood up in the car to see over all the traffic and sure enough, further down the road was a large transporter with a folding ramp.

"There!", he got on the radio again. "Casey, Morgan, the cars have been moved onto transporter trucks. We can only see one, but given how many cars they took there have to be at least two"

"Roger, Chuck. We'll notify the cops, a couple of 'em have just arrived at the auction"

Sitting back down, he threw the car into reverse and drove back up the alleyway. Courtesy of another flash, he spun the car around with a J-turn when they reached the road which the cars were stolen along. They then continued driving down the alleyway to the next road, and then the next, until they reached one which mercifully had far less traffic. Turning left onto the larger road, he opened up the throttle to catch up with the trucks, which had been at least three blocks ahead when they'd spotted them.

As he wove between other cars on the road with a precision only the Intersect could achieve, he noticed out of the corner of his eye Sarah rummaging in the glove box.

"What are you looking for?", he asked.

"Something to use as a weapon", she replied. "No more bullets no we're cyber-sleuths, remember?"

Before he could answer Sarah pulled out a brown leather satchel, which unfurled turned out to be a toolkit, and removed three different-sized screwdrivers from within.

Looking to his left as they passed each cross-road, he finally saw the trucks. He pressed the gas pedal all the way to the floor to get ahead of them, before taking a sharp left turn when they reached a small plaza, the tyres squealing in protest as the rear-end of the car stepped out slightly.

When he finally brought the car skidding to a stop at the bottom of the road which the trucks were on, the traffic had mostly cleared, and the trucks were now barreling down the sloping street at speed. Catching sight of a nearly nine million-dollar Ferrari blocking their path, the first truck slammed on the breaks, the one behind having the sense to do the same a second later.

Chuck and Sarah got out of the Ferrari at the exact same time as the first truck driver, who had started to draw a gun from the back of his waistband as he dropped down from the cab.

"What they hell do y-arrhhh!", the leading wheelman wasn't fast enough for Sarah however, who threw the largest of the screwdrivers straight at his gun-hand, embedding it in the soft flesh between his thumb and trigger finger.

"Don't move!", she charged forward, her right fist swinging round and connecting with the wounded man's jaw. As he fell down she snatched the gun from his wounded hand and pushed him to the ground with a heel-clad foot. She kept it pressed into his back to force him to lie face-down, holding his own weapon on him as she did so.

With one driver secure, Chuck snuck along the passenger side of the first truck, hoping the large vehicle had obscured the second driver's view of his confederate's fate. Once at the back of the vehicle, he peeked around the corner and saw the other driver craning his neck to try and see what the hold-up was. Pressed against the first truck's trailer, he could also hear low, muttering voices within. Some of the crew who had jacked the cars, no doubt.

Taking advantage of the second driver's pre-occupation, he jogged up the passenger side of the second truck, hearing the voices of the other half of the crew as rounded the back, and began to stalk down the other side, crouching low to avoid been seen in the driver's side mirror.

Upon reaching the driver's door, he yanked it open hard to the surprise of the second trucker.

"Hi there!", Chuck exclaimed merrily before punching him squarely on the nose. As the truck driver began to fall backwards into the cabin, Chuck grabbed him by the collar of his flannel shirt and pulled him from the vehicle, hitting the asphalt with a dull thud followed by a muffled groan.

Chuck then hopped down from the truck himself, removing the gun from Driver Two's inside-the-waist holster, tucked at the back of his pants like his partner's.

He looked up to see Sarah and Driver One approaching the back the first truck, gun trained in one hand on her maimed quarry, and the other pressed into her earpiece.

"Casey, it's Sarah. We've stopped the trucks and apprehended the drivers, but the rest of the heist crew are holed up in the trailers with the cars. Think you could send the cops our way to help out?"

"Copy that, police are on their way now", came his reply in both of their headsets. "We'll let the auctioneers know the thieves have been interdicted and that the cars'll be back soon, then we'll come down too"

In no time at all, the scene was swarming with police, including SWAT officers to deal with the thieves still in the trailers. Once they realised they were out-numbered and out-gunned, however, the remaining assailants gave up without a fight. The guys who'd been in the black van were with them too, having abandoned their vehicle a block away from the scene of the crime.

Amidst the hustle and bustle, Chuck was leaning against the Ferrari, listening to Sarah speak with the auctioneer a few feet away. The portly man had come down with Casey and Morgan to make sure the cars were okay. After being regaled of the afternoon's events, his eyes bulging more and more as Sarah's debriefing went on, he thanked her profusely before making his way over to Chuck to do the same.

"Thank you! Thank you, thank you! You really saved our bacon today."

"Just doing our job" he chirped, trying to sound humbler than he felt at that moment, what with the chasing down a gang of thieves in a vintage Ferrari an' all.

Once their employer for the day had moved on to speak with the police about getting the cars back to the Hotel, Sarah stepped up to him.

"So.", she began, looking to him in anticipation.

"Yeah?", he smiled and raised an eyebrow at her.

"Not a bad for a day's work", she moved closer to lean against the car next to him.

"Certainly not a boring day at the office, that's for sure", he looked down at his feet self-consciously then, having just given voice to what he thought they'd both been feeling recently.

After a moment of slightly awkward silence, Sarah spoke. "I suppose we should be getting this car back to the auction too"

_Ah_

"Yeahhh, about that..."

"Mr. Carmichael", the auctioneer was back, now with another auction staffer carrying a binder of documents as well as a heavy looking book in a dark red dust jacket. "I had my assistant here bring the papers you need to sign to complete the sale."

"The sale?", Sarah's whipped around to look at him, her eyes burning a hole in the side of his head.

"Yes, the sale of the Ferrari to your husband."

Sarah cleared her throat and stepped away from the car to look at him directly. "What?"

"Surprise", he said weakly.

She just kept staring at him, one eyebrow raised alarmingly high.

"How much?", she asked finally, her tone ominous.

"Uh, well..."

"How much?"

"You handed in the truck driver's gun to the cops already, right?"

"How. Much?"

He sighed a long, heavy sigh, resigned to his fate. "Eight million, six hundred-thousand dollars"

She took a very small step back at that, her eyes moving back and forth between him and the car. Her eyes eventually settled permanently on him, and she squared her shoulders in resolution. "Okay".

"Okay?"

"Mhm"

He exhaled in relief, but before he could say anything, she strode forward and snatched the keys dangling from his fingers.

"Wh- Uh...Honey?"

She didn't acknowledge him however, instead walking around the car and getting in the driver's seat. She started the engine and looked up at him with a challenge in her eyes.

Chuck turned back to the auctioneer, who now looked even more confused than he had back at the Hotel. He took the papers he needed to sign and arranged for payment to be made from his and Sarah's account, the one containing the now unfrozen ex-Volkoff Industries funds. The assistant also handed him the thick red book. Chuck could now see 'Ferrari Classiche' was printed at the top and 'Certificazione di autenticita' at the bottom - the car's documents, it seemed.

"Well, congratulations again, Mr. Carmichael", and with that, the auctioneer turned on the spot and walked away again, assistant in tow.

Still rather befuddled by the past few minutes himself, he turned around as well and got in the car with Sarah, her face still unreadable. He had barely shut the door when she hit the gas and the car took off with a mighty growl.

_Oh boy._

* * *

The sun was setting over the Pacific Ocean, its orange haze reflected in the shimmering water and scattering across its surface.

By the time CI had concluded its business in Monterey, seeing the auction through to its end and receiving their payment, evening was upon them. After packing up their equipment, the team had originally planned to fly back to LA aboard the company jet. However, rather than arrange for the Ferrari to be shipped home by RM - which they had offered to do free of charge as a thank-you for CI's above and beyond service - Chuck had suggested he and Sarah drive it back while Casey and Morgan took the plane with all their gear.

After all, he'd argued, if you had access to a car like that would you give it back straight away?

So, they'd taken their luggage from the pile and thrown it in the trunk, and now as the day drew to close were making their way home down the Pacific Coast Highway. Since it would be dark soon, Chuck had booked a hotel in Big Sur to stay in for the night, allowing them to finish their journey at a leisurely pace the next day. Sarah was behind the wheel once again, and Chuck wondered if she'd ever allow him to drive the car again, not that he was complaining. Despite her apparent sternness at the scene of the attempted robbery, Sarah had softened after a few minutes behind the wheel of the car. Now, with the wind in her hair and the low sun colouring her features, there was an easy contentedness etched across her features, something he hadn't seen much of since her memories were taken from her.

"So, are you still mad at me?", he asked with a sly, but also slightly nervous, smile.

"Despite my best efforts, no", she replied with a faux-frustrated look on her face. "Even though buying this car makes this trip a loss-making venture, and that's despite the bonus RM added to our fee for what we did today."

He winced at that. "True, but I think it's safe to say that we can count on their business next year when they come back to town. Not to mention...", he swallowed, steeling himself for the next part. "Look, I know this cybersecurity business hasn't been as...invigorating...as you're, or as we're used to. Although today was...", he blew out a breath and widened his eyes, and he could've sworn he heard her giggle at him.

"My point is, our new work life isn't always going to be as exciting as the spy life was, but that doesn't mean we can't still have adventures", she said nothing to that, so he continued. "After all, life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it", initially she didn't respond to that either, but then her eyes widened in realisation.

"Wait, _that_ movie? Is that what made you buy this particular car?"

He shrugged nonchalantly in response, sly smile back in place.

Sarah laughed softly and shook her head at him, and there was a companionable silence in the car for a while after that, though Chuck couldn't help thinking to himself how Sarah recognised the quote. It'd been a couple of years since he'd introduced her to the movie, after all. As they approached Big Sur though, she spoke up again.

"Well then, in the spirit of the movie, how about another road-trip after this one?"

A little surprised, he smiled at her with raised eyebrows. "Where'd you have in mind?"

"Chicago", was her simple response. "When we get back to Burbank, we can pack some fresh clothes and start heading east, taking the scenic route, of course"

"You mean like Route 66?"

"The surviving parts of it, yeah, plus some other attractions", there was a mischievous glint in her eye, but also a little shyness too. "Places I saw growing up that I wouldn't mind revisiting, actually stopping and enjoying them this time"

He made no effort to suppress the wide, happy smile he felt stretching across his face as he gazed at her in profile.

"And when we get to Chicago of course, we can see Ellie and Devon in their new house", she finished, glancing over at him.

Still smiling, he turned back towards the open road ahead of them.

"Let's do it"

_Their next adventure._

* * *

The End.

* * *

**A/N2:** You're still here? It's over. Go home. Go.


End file.
